Rubicon Terraforming

Inspired by sights, sounds and smells of an imagined world, Terraforming is a gentle sonic evocation of a planet much like our own. Filled with gentle gestures - airy pads, insectile chirps, the hum and hush of nearby streams - the pack weaves an uplifting tapestry of synths, chimes, bells and flutes that bring to mind the smell of fresh petrichor after heavy rain, or the wet percussive rhythm of a stone being skipped.

Holly Waxwing is a sound designer and composer based in Providence, RI. Holly’s latest work for PC Music, The New Pastoral, is “…a painterly polyptych that stands apart from its contemporaries not only on merit of its sound, but also the sincerity of its unifying theme and the dichotomy of pastoralism with the ultra-slick sound that PC Music is better known for,” writes Urvogel. Holly runs the sound design agency We Time Audio House and co-curated Noumenal Loom Records for a decade. In addition, Holly is a regular contributor to citizen science efforts in the field of mycology. Holly’s haptic approach to sound is heavily informed by their ASD/SPD and sound has always had a synesthetic layer for them.

Icon Alias is a sound designer and electronic music producer based in San Diego, CA. Icon favors digital tools to produce a wide range of organic sounds and textures. Her expressive computer music seeks out evocations of the natural world through the joy of sonic play by way of giddy computer synth instrumentation and soft digital manipulation. (Including this in case we can include in the description)

The pack unites Holly’s and Icon’s love of nature with keen ears and ingenuity for textural sound synthesis. Using a combination of Ableton’s Operator, Collision, Wavetable and Serum, Holly and Icon build intricate layers of floral synths, earth-toned percussion and blooming FM resonances. The sounds of Terraforming, as with many Earth species, form highly interdependent, mutualistic associations - a dense, evolving thicket of chirps, pads and ambiences.

Demo by Holly Waxwing and Icon Alias

Artwork by Valeria Montero

179 Samples